Internet Inspiration – May 3, 2013
May 3, 2013
the-princesses-the-quad-and-two-hundred-jumpies
The Princesses, the Quad, and Two Hundred Jumpies
May 8, 2013

Symbolic Action with Intent

I haven’t been writing much recently, which is unusual for me. And I was trying to figure out why I wasn’t writing, and it’s because in the past few weeks my life has been so action-oriented, I’ve been little interested in reflection.

  • My brother and I are starting to transform our gym space. We got 7,500 pounds of rubber matting and carried it all in. I predict all my PRs will jump up by at least 10 lbs just from having that professional flooring.
  • I submitted my final project for Nutrition School (Institute for the Psychology of Eating). I discussed the Witch/Wizard Archetype as a useful archetype for personal transformation. I’ll probably write about it on the blog at some point.
  • And a few weeks ago I sent a proposal for a yoga workshop to a local studio. And they responded with a yes!
  • Plus, I’ve been busy coaching crew and accompanying the team to regattas on the weekends.

It’s funny, all this seeming to happen at once. At times it’s kind of overwhelming to realize how different my life is going to be when all these ventures really take off. But I got a note from The Universe today that said, “Everyone’s lucky, dear Kathryn. Few are prepared.” And I remembered that a few weeks ago I was talking with my life coach and telling her that I was actually afraid of success. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with myself if all my dreams came true. So I did some journaling on the topic; imagining my ideal day, thinking of ideas for next, figuring out how I would fuel myself, making vision boards, planning my continuing education, etc.

So, of course, surrender has been a hot topic. If I’m envisioning all these dreams, how can I trust that the Universe is going to deliver the RIGHT THING??

Surrender.

When I was writing this paper for my school, I came across this paragraph from a blog post on Phantasmaphile:

The archetype of the witch is long overdue for celebration. Daughters, mothers, queens, virgins, wives, et al. derive meaning from their relation to another person. Witches, on the other hand, have power on their own terms. They create. They praise. They commune… freely, and free of any mediator. But most importantly: they make things happen. The best definition of magic I’ve been able to come up with is “symbolic action with intent” – “action” being the operative word. Witches are midwives to metamorphosis. They are magical women, and they, quite literally, change the world.

And I was reminded of a thought I had while reading the Harry Potter books: Hogwarts largely taught the students the importance of preparation and setup. You had to move your wand a certain way, do a ritual in a particular order, and say the right words, but then, if everything was executed correctly, the students could EXPECT the result they wanted. Can you imagine how freeing that would be? To KNOW that exactly the thing you intended would happen? No need to control something into existence, just set it up and let something else take over.

So that’s my message and my priority this week: Set up the structure, and then surrender the results. Trust that the right thing will happen, and just let it happen. If you need to ritualize, do so. But trust. And go with the flow.